Many forms of tech doc still require CAUTIONs and WARNINGs, which are delineated by special artwork. Most Word users employ artwork that is copied and pasted to achieve the desired look. FrameMaker 11 offers a powerful feature: Reference Pages which contain one instance of the desired CAUTION artwork that is duplicated many times via paragraph read more…
Tables are relatively simple to create with Word, but compared to FrameMaker tables they would not be classified as “sturdy.” For years tables have been one of the strongest features in FrameMaker, in large part due to the degree that customers have “stretched the envelope” with complex, high page count projects that required tables with read more…
One of the most common complaints I have heard from Microsoft Word users is the amount of time they spend trying to reposition “slippery” graphics that fall off of the page near a page break. With effort, it is possible to create a true anchored frame to control an image somewhat, but the choices for read more…
FrameMaker 11 has a long history of creating multiple versions of documents or projects to address different audiences, and similar but slightly different product lines. For at least two decades, FrameMaker users have been able to use conditional text control to issue different, custom versions of documents from a single set of “base” source documents. read more…
There is a a considerable contrast between Microsoft Word and FrameMaker regarding the way that styles, catalogs and removal of format overrides are handles. Word displays character styles (e.g. emphasized words) and paragraph styles (e.g. lists of headings) together in one style catalog. FrameMaker has a separate catalog for: paragraph styles character styles table styles read more…
Sideheads are most frequently seen in a traditional resume. Sideheads, with headings placed in the outer page margins, are relatively easy to accomplish with Microsoft Word, if the heading is only one line long and has no long breaks. Multi-line sideheads in Word are quite another story. This is one feature that stands in stark read more…
Cross References provide one of the most dramatic contrasts between Word and FrameMaker 11. It is possible to create an xref to a page number, Figure, Table or paragraph in Word. But it requires a string of cross references to achieve what appears to be a complex sentence with reference to a Table, the title, read more…
Our third “video blog” on FrameMaker 11 for Word users focuses on the dynamics of page layout. This is possibly one of the areas in “basic” FrameMaker where feature advantages over Word are most pronounced. Since Word was originally developed as a personal, productivity word processor on a platform (PC with DOS) that did not read more…
This is the second in our series of blogs that highlight key differences between Microsoft Word and FrameMaker 11. Simple page headers and footers show a dramatic contrast between product capabilities. FrameMaker 11 page headers update in real time A major difference between the two products is the lack of manual updates required to update read more…
This is the first in a series of several brief blogs that highlight some videos we have created to compliment our #WriteRight compaign. Be sure to visit and register for our new micro site, http://www.douwriteright.com/, for a chance to voice your opinion and also to see a growing collection of “mini-videos.” The first feature comparison read more…
